Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanciuk met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholes in Berlin on Friday and called on Germany to provide more arms to Ukraine. After the meeting, Stephensky said that Volodymyr Zhelensky could also go to Germany.
Ruslan Stephansiuk, dressed in camouflage, was greeted by Olaf Scholes. After the meeting, Stephensky mentioned that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zhelensky could visit Germany, the dpa quoted Acerpress as saying.
Stefanciuk then held talks with German President Frank Walter Steinmeier, the German leader’s first meeting with a senior Ukrainian political leader on the Steinmeier-Kyiv controversy over Ukraine’s past support for Russia.
In mid-April, when Ukraine wanted to go with the leaders of Poland and the three former Soviet Baltic republics, Ukraine refused to let the German president visit Kiev, but about a month later Steinmeier and Zhelensky called on the phone. And the whole German government should visit Kiev. German Foreign Minister Annalena Barbach, who later visited Germany.
On Friday, following a meeting with German parliamentarians, Stefanciuk reiterated his call for Germany to supply old heavy weapons such as leopard tanks and mortar war vehicles stored in its warehouses. However, at the start of his visit on Thursday evening, he told the dpa: “Of course, we need modern weapons first. We can fight and oppose old weapons, but new weapons will be more effective.”
Stefanciuk welcomed Scholz’s announcement on Wednesday about the distribution of heavy weapons, but stressed that this must happen quickly, as 100 people are killed and more than 500 injured every day in Ukraine.
Germany will provide Ukraine with its state-of-the-art air defense system
Scholes said Ukraine would receive from the German military the German anti-aircraft system Iris-D, the Cobra radar system and four Mars II missile missile systems with a radius of 40 km. Germany has previously pledged 50 Cheetah tanks and seven 2000 Panzerhaubitze howitzers.
Marie Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, head of the Bundestag’s Security Council, called for the supply of ammunition to Ukraine in a joint NATO effort. “Ukrainian ammunition is depleted. It’s old Soviet ammunition,” he told the DPA, adding that Germany could also make a significant contribution by supplying night vision equipment.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany Andrei Melnik has so far been critical of German support for his country, calling for further support in an interview with ARD on Friday.
“In fact, 100 days of war have already passed and so far no heavy weapons have been delivered from Germany to Ukraine,” the diplomat said.
He welcomed the German president’s announcement on Wednesday that the first weapons would not arrive by the end of this month. “You see, the problem,” Melnick said.
Author: A.A.
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